Rhoads in as Auburn's new defensive coordinator, but he's not the only football winner this week

The Gold Mine's election for Auburn's new defensive coordinator has just been declared official by the United Nations. We said that wouldn't happen until the day it snowed in Auburn, and, well, it's snowing in Auburn today. The election was verified despite the fact the vast majority of the hundreds of voters got this election wrong, spreading the vote so thin that Dave Campo beat new coordinator Paul Rhoads in the ballot box.

But we're here to reveal the real winners, anyway. The first person to say Rhoads would be a good selection in the Gold Mine, and therefore we counted it as a vote, was poster Jeremiah1Aub, who not only got it right, but got it right six days before the election started.

Tip of the fedora to you.

But we're declaring a tie. Once the election officially opened, poster Bustersmrh1 was the first to endorse Rhoads with a ``seems to be a very good choice.'' Seven days later, Auburn officially agreed. As promised, nobody actually wins anything, even the Opelika police dog who finished tied with Rhoads in second place.

You are welcome to dispute the voting.

A little more housekeeping... We never awarded our Blue Plate Special Award for being the closest to the Auburn-Alabama football score. It was...the Gold Mine. I could say modesty prevented me from saying this before now, but, actually, I forgot to look. We guessed 21-10. The final was 17-10. I'm guessing you know who had the 17.

Checking in on other recent SEC developments...

Think Florida State started a trend last month when it said Jimbo Fisher would some day replace Bobby Bowden as its head coach? Kentucky is doing the same thing, announcing Friday that Joker Phillips will some day replace Rich Brooks as its head coach. If nobody beats him to the punch, he'll be the second black head football coach in the SEC. That could take awhile. Brooks' contract runs through 2011.

**National championships don't come cheaply in today's world, our friends at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans noted. Beginning next season LSU football season-ticket holders will be asked for the second time in as many years to pay more for tickets.

The increase boosts the cost of a seat in Tiger Stadium almost 12 percent to $50 for SEC games or games designated "premium" by the athletic director. The price for all other games will rise from $40 to $45. The athletic department says it will raise an additional $17.4 million during the next three years.

**The SEC will, for sure, lose a basketball coach at year's end. South Carolina coach Dave Odom plans to retire at the end of the season. The 65-year-old Odom never captured the success he enjoyed previous at Wake Forest. He never finished better than 8-8 in his seven seasons, not counting this one of course, but took Wake Forest to seven straight NCAA Tournaments. He's still an outstanding 401-268 in 22 seasons.